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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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After a moment’s deliberation, Yuma decided what to demand from the celestial beings.
Indeed, only one thing immediately came to mind.
And it was also the most important thing.
To obtain an environment where Bell and Cloney could grow.
Surely there existed places on this continent’s landmass that could stimulate their growth.
However, Yuma needed a place with the greatest potential.
‘There isn’t much time.’
A situation had developed where the gods could invade at any moment.
Bell and Cloney needed to be made capable of confronting the gods in the shortest time possible.
The thought that this was impossible didn’t cross his mind.
‘If there’s enough time…’
If given sufficient time to grow, Yuma was convinced that the two would develop to unimaginable heights.
Yuma opened his mouth again.
“Are there any methods or items in the celestial realm that can make one stronger quickly in a short time?”
At Yuma’s question, Archangel Garenmun thought for a moment before speaking again.
“Y-You wish to become stronger, Lord Yuma?”
Garenmun’s widened eyes seemed to convey the meaning: you want to become even stronger than this?
Yuma slowly shook his head.
“My subordinates.”
“I see.”
Garenmun thought for a moment again before opening his mouth.
“Modification… would be the most certain method, but that would result in loss of self, so I don’t think that’s what Lord Yuma wants. In the celestial realm, there are places created for celestials to train. The Outer Path, where creatures that could be considered monsters from the perspective of this middle realm exist. And there’s a training place called the Temporal Restraint that is unaffected by the flow of time.”
A gleam appeared in Yuma’s eyes.
Wasn’t this exactly the place he had been looking for?
Garenmun continued.
“If one absorbs celestial energy well, it can clearly enhance physical abilities and mana. Of course, not all humans can enjoy this enhancement… one must possess the talent to understand celestial energy.”
Yuma nodded slowly.
As for talent, he had subordinates by his side who were abundantly gifted.
Yuma’s gaze turned to Garenmun.
“I will bring several companions to the celestial realm. Tell them to prepare to receive guests.”
At Yuma’s words, Garenmun gulped.
“Understood. After conveying the message, I will return to the middle realm to escort you.”
Yuma nodded.
Garenmun flapped his massive white wings and returned to the celestial realm.
‘The celestial side will likely have ways to restrain themselves from touching me, Bell, Cloney, and the few others I’ll bring.’
And given the sin of deicide that he had committed, they wouldn’t easily make moves to harm him.
Having decided what needed to be done next, Yuma rose and walked toward the imperial palace.
In front of the Empress’s chambers within the vast imperial palace.
There were knights standing with their backs straight on either side of the door.
“Hail! We are honored by the presence of Grand Duke Yuma!”
The knights immediately moved away from the door upon Yuma’s appearance.
Yuma entered through the opened door.
Brigitte was sitting and attending to her duties.
When Yuma approached, Brigitte’s eyes widened.
“Yuma.”
Her tone conveyed strong delight.
“What happened with that apostle from the celestial realm?”
“I told him to convey my business to the celestial lord and sent him away for now.”
“Is that so?”
“The business I asked him to convey was whether or not the celestial realm could provide an environment for my companions to grow. I received a fairly positive answer, but I’m still not entirely sure.”
Brigitte looked at Yuma, who was still moving urgently despite having defeated an evil god that had descended upon this land just three days ago, and spoke again.
“Is there another continental crisis that I don’t know about this time?”
Yuma slowly nodded.
This morning.
As soon as he woke up, he recalled the contents of the notification window that suddenly appeared in front of him.
Yuma couldn’t even gauge how many questions he would have for this damned status window if ever a moment of mutual communication arrived.
“Not only are they targeting this Geherhen continent, but there’s a risk that the evil gods’ malicious influence will spread to surrounding continents. I’d like you to use the empire’s intelligence network to check if there are any places where calamities of unprecedented scale or type have suddenly occurred.”
At Yuma’s words, Brigitte nodded emphatically.
“Yes, understood.”
“And about that evil god who possessed the nun I encountered when I went to the city with Bell before. The presumed evil god cult. Have you found any clues?”
Even as he spoke, Yuma wasn’t expecting much.
Even if they tried to find clues, all they had was a small pendant containing a photograph that was found in the possession of the nun who appeared to have been sacrificed as a medium for possession.
Empress Brigitte gave the same answer Yuma had anticipated.
“Sorry, no information has come in yet.”
“That’s alright.”
Yuma thought it was only a matter of time before he would meet the god he had encountered then.
‘That one has been quite wary of me since meeting me in a possessed state in that nun’s body.’
Malphas.
Yuma still didn’t know that name.
It was true that Malphas was extremely wary of Yuma.
He was indeed the being who was most concerned.
After all, he was the one who had gathered the remaining six evil gods and warned them.
Yuma organized in his mind who to bring.
‘If I leave Luke, the head of the White night clan, in the empire, I should be able to stay in the celestial realm for about a month without any issues.’
Unlike the demon realm, the celestial realm might require a longer stay, so caution was necessary.
Grand Master Craven, the Empire’s First Seat who had fought in unseen places during the demon realm invasion, was currently staying in the central part of the empire.
Plus, there was the Duke. With three clear Grand Masters gathered, there was no need to worry about safety.
‘I’ll take most of the White night clan except for a minimal force… and I should also select useful mages and organize them to come along.’
If he made the Red Tower Master and the Imperial Tower Master rack their brains, a decent magic corps could be formed.
Just as Yuma was thinking about getting up, Brigitte spoke.
“You said there were eight evil gods, right? You killed two of them… so there are six left now.”
Yuma nodded.
“Yes.”
Brigitte stared at Yuma with a hardened face.
Yuma sensed strong concern in that expression.
Not concern about what would happen in the future, but concern about him.
“Don’t worry, I can resolve everything.”
Of course, despite saying that, there was no abundant confidence as his words suggested.
It was closer to a commitment than confidence.
A commitment that everything must be resolved.
The eight evil gods, and the gods under their command.
In the end, if they invaded, there was no choice but to wipe them out.
“I’m sorry,” Brigitte said quietly.
“That I can’t help much.”
In fact, from Yuma’s perspective, the power difference between Bell, Cloney, and Brigitte didn’t feel that significant at the moment.
War God Barbatos.
If Bell and Cloney had been the ones to face him, they would never have won.
It would have been inevitable death.
Unlike Incrinew who had used abilities extremely similar to divine powers, the battle with Barbatos, who had used pure force, evoked many impressions in Yuma.
Whether it worked or not, he had to make his companions and the empire’s forces much stronger than they were now.
Yuma recalled Incrinew, the first evil god he had killed.
“Killing Incrinew was probably a predetermined step that led to having to kill the evil gods. It was something I had no choice but to do anyway.”
Yuma continued.
“Your role is to work hard as the Empress of the Asteth Empire to prevent conflicts from occurring within this Geherhen continent. That’s enough.”
In a situation where they didn’t know when the evil gods themselves or demigod-level monsters that had taken root in the middle realm using their power would cause havoc, if there were wars within the continent, the chaos would be beyond imagination.
“So there’s no need for self-reproach.”
After saying that, Yuma decided to change the subject.
“Cloney went back to the Red Tower, didn’t she?”
She had left without saying goodbye.
Brigitte snickered.
“Yes, she told me. She also said she was leaving without saying goodbye to you.”
“Did she say why?”
“Yes.”
Brigitte made a soft laughing sound, as if she still found Cloney’s words amusing.
“Yuma, she said she was too jealous of your power and embarrassed about herself, so she was going to become stronger and then return.”
What Cloney had told Brigitte was likely sincere.
Yuma knew Cloney’s personality.
That she was a child as full of growth desire as Bell.
And while she didn’t say goodbye this morning, on the day they fought Barbatos two days ago, it was Cloney who had approached Yuma and chattered the most.
With her golden eyes shining through her black hair.
“-The life debt I owe you has grown again. It’s already piled up too high. Once at our first meeting at the 7th Seat. Once with the first evil god that appeared… and now this time. Oh, if I add up all the rest, it would be more than ten times.”
The voice of Hestia, the cat-folk swordswoman who had been chattering beside Cloney, also came to mind.
“- Don’t worry, I’ve kept a record of all of Yuma-Yuma’s achievements.”
Cloney had smiled brightly.
“- Without missing any?”
Hestia had also smiled radiantly.
“- Yes yes, without missing any!”
Yuma recalled that excessively peaceful conversation as he headed for the door.
Brigitte’s voice reached him.
“Going to see Bell?”
“Yes.”
Just as Cloney had gone to the Red Tower for training, Bell was also continuing her training.
Since Barbatos’s death.
From even before the sun had set that day.
Yuma headed toward the outdoor training ground where Bell would be.
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